"Ingrates & Release": Adana Retiree, Forced to Live in His Car, Gets No Solace From His 3 Kids Living Abroad

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 7 November 2025)

                      Major complaint is lack of legroom. 

In Adana, former ambulance driver Fethi Yener (85), who lost his

wife of 50 years Neziha five years ago, has been living in his car (!) 

since then, with none of his three children evincing any interest in 

his plight.  

Fethi bey lamented that "when I lost my wife my life turned upside

down, so I returned to my hometown of Urfa, but my relatives there

provided neither material nor spiritual support. As a result, I've been

living in my car for the past five years."

Continuing, Fethi bey explained that "upon my return to Adana, I

couldn't afford to pay rent, which starts at 10,000 TL per month

(about $236), so I had no choice but to live in my car.  There's no

bathroom, of course.  People of goodwill do my laundry.  Just a 

bowl of soup in the morning costs 100 TL (about $2.30), which I 

can't afford."

"I don't hear from my three children - one's in America and two are

in Japan. They didn't even come for their mother's funeral. They 

don't know I live in my car and probably assume I've died."

Fethi bey has appealed to the authorities to settle him in an 

old folks home. 

The cupboard is bare...